Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-28
VORCE HAD FORCED
THE RAILROADS.
The Manitoba will Take the South
ern Route.

Difficulties of Construction In tho North
The Manitoba will Take the South
ern Route.
A Spokane correspondent Of the Helena
Independent says he is reliably informed
that the main line of the Manitoba will
strike out from Butte for it's Pacific
terminus. and the Marias Pass will be
utilized as an entrance to the F]athead
country, presumably for q branch. He
says to a casual observer the route to the
coast through Marias Pass does not seem
as difficult as the route adopted by the
Canadian Pacific, and it is said that it that
route was adopted it would save 500 miles
as compared with the Northern Pacific.
from St. Paul to the coast. A casual OBJ
server might suppose that a railroad could
be built direct West from Marias Pass to
the coast, but he would be greatly mistaken,
No railroad could ever be built over the
series of mountain ranges crossed by
parallels 4S and 40, and
HOPE TO oMPETE
with any of the present American trans
continentals; andif a road was built across
that mountainous region, it would ncces-
sarily have to follow such a serpentine
course that it could not be very much
shorter than present routes. The Cana
dian Pacific will not do for a standard Tor
any American roads to copy. That road
has q grade of gil feet per mile in crossing
the Rocky Mountain divide, and then 1T
crosses the Selkirks, the Gold Range, and
several other divides on heavy grades, so
that it will always be a very expensive
road to operate. It has bid away under
cost of TRANSPORTATION for through traffic,
and tried to make it up by bleeding the
settlers in the interior for all it could get
ont of them. In one part of the mountains
that road charged $1.2O per hundred
mounds for a haul of 80 miles, and the con'
sequence OF that policy is that
COUNT OF NOSES
last veal proved that there were only H.
| 600 whites in the whole Canadian North
| west. outside of British Columbia ana
| Manitoba. That kind OF %railroading will
not do for this country. The Manitoba
will save millions in expenses, and several
Years of time by giving the Northern noun
Tain wilderness a wide berth, and adopting
the direct route west from Butte. by
adopting this route it will have TO cross
hut one important divide west OF tne
Rocky Mountains, and that by graues "
not more than 1l6 feet per mile wl.hou ~
tunnellinp. BY the best route north ol
Rutte. il would have to again cross tne
Rockies. the Bitter Roots, and the Cascaot
Maintains. the latter by enormously ex'
nons;ve work, including a three mile tunnel
a direct route west from Marias Pass neeo
not he conGjdered. 1t is mpractlcaDie
There ia a strong probability that the
Manitoba will adopt the direct route iron
RurrE TO rlDEwArER,
via the Clearwater and the Columbia ane
r~eports from the West point that way. LINT
above correspondent says the Northern
pacific will be shortened 200 miles by tn
,,t o; from Bntte to Gallatin, and by an
otber direct from Spokane Falls to E'iens
b,ro II was at one time their intehtlol
~ h,;id east east from North Yakima ..
the Mckee Pass ian open gap thr0usn W.
Rattleenake Range, crossing the O9 n"n;S.
in the neighborhood OF Priests iapnus
striking the main line aoouI op, 10
: This would be a compAratlVeiy cnga
!. Tna and would save q conslderaple us
! nn - A cut off further north is lot I'M
"ass;hlo hut it would be q much mor
: ftorn,;da hle undertaking in many respecu"e
: DIT Tho Northern Pacific can material!!
g .horten its line in several places. anu W. W.
, probably do so from time to f' n; the LII
Husbandman reports the afriVal Oh Liz
NORTHERN PACIFIC ENGINEERS
8 ar White Sulphur Springs. alter runn'D
}, ,;nea from Tosten and Townsend throus
: 49, cos+,e district. It is intimated taa
. q r. Hauser intends to erect large smel'ln
q -. ~ b main line, to handle orr
; w som that h region. The opening OF II
. 13EM Root Railroad has made eve.ySoa ,
bhannv in that side OF Montana ana tee,
: nre tSe materials there supplied by natu'
;ssien s as can 81 BE = .C Ss"1 On on two see in Ht the Bit,
% % country will attract many railroad coae
s way pSsop l's over r there, and nt there is
cheerful tone about the local ne"sp"p'
d that betokens prosperity.